Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp has won the defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, legally freeing him from Ms Heard’s claims that she was abused by him before and during their brief marriage.

The ruling was held at the courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia on Wednesday. The seven-person civil jury, made of five men and two women, returned their verdict.

The jury has ruled that Amber Heard must pay compensation worth $10 million and $5 million to Johnny Depp for defaming him in the authorship of an op-ed in The Washington Post. They found that Ms Heard acted with actual malice in the publishing of the op-ed in The Washington Post. 

Mr Depp was also found guilty on some counts of defamation in Ms Heard’s countersuit against him and has been asked to pay $2 million in compensation.

Mr Depp had sued Ms Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post referring to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Mr Depp claimed defamation though his name was not explicitly mentioned.

Mr Depp had sued Ms Heard for $50 million and Ms Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim against her ex-husband after his lawyer called her allegations a hoax. 

The trial, which has carried on for six weeks, has revealed details of their marriage. Ms Heard testified that she was physically or sexually assaulted more than a dozen times by Mr Depp, who denied the abuse allegations. He accused her of physically attacking him, multiple times.